iThoughtsHD

Back to School 2013

iThoughtsHD, developed by Craig Scott, is a handy tool to make your mind maps digital.

Whether you use mind maps for revision, task and project planning or goal setting, the mind-mapping tool can be used to quickly write up your notes or export data from other sources including Excel and ConceptDraw. After completion, you can export your maps to Powerpoint, Keynote, Word, Pages or as a PDF.

Study Buddy

Study Buddy, developed by Ezogo LLC, is an app designed to help you keep track of the amount and duration of each distraction you encounter during your studies -- and potentially improve your concentration as a result.

The app records whenever you break away from your study sessions. Results are mapped out and graphed, showing how often you took breaks during each revision session. In addition, the app can be set up with custom alarm bells which inform you when you've taken a break reaching one minute, five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, or 30 minutes.

This app is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

gFlashPro

gFlashPro, developed by gWhiz, is an app that allows you to develop and download flash cards for your revision.

Using either Google Docs or content available in the gWhiz Catalog, users can create and edit cards with text, audio and video clips. In addition, publishers including McGraw-Hill, Kaplan and Wiley Publishing offer ready-made premium cards as in-app purchases.

An active wireless connection is required to download new card sets.

This app is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

Wolfram|Alpha

Wolfram|Alpha, developed by Wolfram Alpha, is touted as a "computational engine" to cater for your factual search queries.

Scientific, mathematical, socio-economic, biographical, cultural and linguistic data is curated by the software -- rather than algorithms used by Google or Bing -- and turns general English queries into algebra, calculus, physics and engineering algorithms.

Wolfram|Alpha began a partnership with Apple in the past several years, and the inclusion of Siri has induced a rise in popularity for the application.

This app is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later.

Mint

Mint, developed by Mint Software, is a handy app to manage your finances -- often difficult as a student as the war between partying or buying the book you need rages.

You can add your account details, whether bank, credit or loan-based and Mint will then automatically pull in and categorize your transactions. Budgets can be based on how much you wish to spend, bill reminders can be set up and graphs can be created so you can visually see where your money is going every month.

In order to keep your data secure, the app is PIN-protected. If your device is stolen, you can disable the mobile app through Mint's web page.

This app is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later.

RefScanSM

RefScanSM, developed by Thomson Reuters, is an application for finding, saving and scanning references.

Powered by the Web of Knowledge and EndNote platforms, online references can be accessed and saved to a free web account. The idea behind the app is to save you time seeking out endless resources for your essays, and to function as an easier way to organize your research.

Skype

Skype, developed by Skype Communications, is a popular communications platform used worldwide.

If you have a good Internet connection, you can connect to someone else anywhere in the world as long as they have a Skype account. Also available as a stand-alone program, Skype allows you to send instant messages and make video or speech-based calls. Skype has over 250 million users.

This app is compatible with the iPhone and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later.

iTunes U

iTunes U, developed by Apple, is a platform which gives users access to courses offered by schools and universities worldwide.

If you need to supplement your university course -- or simply want to learn about something new -- you can use the application to search for free educational content. The platform hosts courses in a wide variety of content, including courses which issue assignments as you progress, as well as audio and visual lectures. If you use iBooks, then you can take notes and highlight important sections for review in iTunes U.

Over 600,000 courses are available.

This app is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later.

Numbers

Numbers, developed by Apple, is an alternative to Microsoft's excel spreadsheet program.

Touch-screen compatible, the Numbers application contains the usual functions of spreadsheet software -- including the ability to input data, create tables, charts, graphics, and to install photos. A useful feature is a connection to iCloud, so you can keep important documents up to date across all of your devices.

ReferenceME

ReferenceME, developed by company T and Biscuits, is an automatic bibliography creator.

To add a citation to your essay, you simply scan the barcode of a book with your mobile device's camera, and then the citation is automatically created for you. If there is no barcode, you can type in the book's ISBN or enter the details manually.

ReferenceME can create full bibliographies with citations using Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, MHRA, MLA, Oxford and APA styles. References can then be sent to your essay through email or social media.

TextGrabber + Translator

TextGrabber + Translator, developed by ABBYY USA Software House, is a handy translator which can recognize plain text in over 60 languages.

By using your mobile device to scan or take a picture of the text, the app can then translate the language into your native language -- where the results can then be viewed, shared via email and SMS, or posted directly to a social media account or EverNote.

Dropbox

If you need a quick way to share files quickly and easily, Dropbox -- developed by Dropbox Inc -- is a popular choice.

The app works by connecting your mobile devices, PC and the Dropbox website to an account which acts as a virtual 'drag and drop' folder. Once you've signed up and snagged your free 2GB allowance, you can choose to automatically save photos and videos to the folder, or manually add files as you go.

If you want to share files with a friend, you can see a link to them for quick transfer.

This app is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later.

Evernote

Evernote, developed by Evernote Corp, is a way to store notes and documents across all of your devices.

You can capture notes -- text, photos or full pages -- before storing data in your Evernote folder just by firing up the app and choosing to create a new note. If you're in a lecture, this feature is a handy way to quickly grab and then digitally organize your notes in preparation for exams and essays.

One of the latest features to be added is the ability to edit rich text. Although designed to help you add links, bulleted links and more, it currently leaves something to be desired.

This app is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later.

Pages

Pages, developed by Apple, is an alternative to Microsoft's Word.

The word processor allows you to create, edit and view documents on your Apple devices. The app comes with a number of templates for letters, reports, flyers, posters and cards. The app allows you to create and edit colors and textures within the file, as well as build charts, insert images and create footnotes, to name but a few functions.

In addition, the app works with iCloud, so you can update a file across all of your devices easily. You can also use the 'Open in another app' feature to send a file across to services such as Dropbox.

Notability

Notability, developed by Ginger Labs, is note-taking application built purposely for the iPad.

Notability is useful for hand-written annotation -- by importing media including notes, powerpoint and .pdf files, you can annotate as you see fit using the iPad's touchscreen capabilities. The app includes a zoom feature to quickly add detail to a file, while the 'palm rest' feature stops you from protecting your notes from unwanted marks.

You can also use a spellcheck and add styling features including text boxes, outlines and bullet points.

iStudiez Pro

iStudiez Pro, developed by Enfiero, is a handy scheduler to make sure you don't miss your lectures and classes.

When you begin university, the timetable can be dizzying. Rather than relying on your crushed-up, coffee-covered piece of paper dictating when and where your next class is, this app is a simple way to input and arrange your schedule.

iStudiez Pro lets you input and manage your time, whether you have a set-in-stone week ahead, alternating weeks for different classes, or you have a rotating and block schedule. Once you've input your classes, you can also add data including your instructor's office hours, email address and phone number; holiday periods, and class type.

In addition to tracking your classes, you can also use the application to keep track of homework due-dates, assignements, and you can also input which pieces of coursework have top priority. If you need an incentive to get work done, add your current GPA score while you're at it.

This app is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later.

Amazon Student

The Amazon Student app is useful especially at the start of a new semester and you need to purchase the next round of books destined to become little more than expensive door stops.

If you want to check the online price of a book, use your mobile device to scan the barcode. You can then compare the price of the book with different retailers to see if you can get a better deal through the retail giant than in your local university bookstore. In addition, you can use Amazon Student to sell your unwanted books.

This app is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

Pocket Informant

The app comes with features including a calendar, tasks, notes and contacts. You can create checklists, input events, filter to search for specific tasks -- such as those related to a particular project -- and use voice activation to add additional events. Once purchased, this app will run across all of your devices.

You can also sync this app with Evernote.

This app is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 5.1 or later.

iStudiez Pro

iStudiez Pro, developed by Enfiero, is a handy scheduler to make sure you don't miss your lectures and classes.

When you begin university, the timetable can be dizzying. Rather than relying on your crushed-up, coffee-covered piece of paper dictating when and where your next class is, this app is a simple way to input and arrange your schedule.

iStudiez Pro lets you input and manage your time, whether you have a set-in-stone week ahead, alternating weeks for different classes, or you have a rotating and block schedule. Once you've input your classes, you can also add data including your instructor's office hours, email address and phone number; holiday periods, and class type.

In addition to tracking your classes, you can also use the application to keep track of homework due-dates, assignements, and you can also input which pieces of coursework have top priority. If you need an incentive to get work done, add your current GPA score while you're at it.

This app is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later.

Charlie Osborne, a medical anthropologist who studied at the University of Kent, UK, is a journalist, freelance photographer and former teacher.
She has spent years travelling and working across Europe and the Middle East as a teacher, and has been involved in the running of businesses ranging from media and events to B2B sales. Charli...
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